Graceful Petals
by Dakk Tribal
Summary: The most beautiful thing is the world…is the sound of that last gasp of breath leaving your lips.


_The most beautiful thing is the world…is the sound of that last gasp of breath leaving your lips._

The sky was blue and the roses were in full bloom, spring was alive and well. The field of roses outside a castle in an unknown world. The roses were beautiful and red; the petals blew in the wind and high in the sky.

Except for the little black Shadow Heartless that were roaming around the area, searching for hearts to capture. Why they were in the middle of a flower field could be anyone's guess, as they were far enough from where they could get a large amount of hearts all at one time. Instead they were out in the middle of a field, would've been smelling the roses if they had the mind to do so. The fact that they had been following the petals for some time might have stemmed from the idea that they were as mindless as they were curious. Maybe they thought that they would find their prey by going to where the petals originated from?

Whichever reason it may be, the number of Shadow Heartless numbered in the dozens, and in this swarm surely no one would even come close to them. And anyone that did would surely meet an unfortunate end and lose their heart.

Suddenly, a single Shadow's antennae started to twitch. That twitch that signaled the acquisition of a target. Another Heartless, a Soldier, appeared out of a cloud of darkness. It waved its arms frantically and ran off in the direction it sensed its target. The great many Shadow Heartless followed in their frantic ways, tossing and tearing the roses up into the air with their claws as they went.

Turns out the target that the Soldier had found was a human. A human girl, to be exact. A poor soul that had been out in the field enjoying the sun and the flowers before the Heartless attacked her. Her apparent demise was made apparent with the heart floating over her body. Bright pink and sparkling, the heart would soon disappear for being outside the body for very long.

Unless the Heartless nabbed it first, this was what the Soldier was going to do. Absorb the heart and gain more power, and keep on gaining hearts anyway it can. That was all it craved, gaining hearts meant power.

The Shadows surrounded the girl and her all-important heart, but it was the Soldier that was going to get the heart.

That is, until green vines lined with sharp thorns shot out of the ground all around the Heartless, stabbing through some of the Shadows. They vanished instantly, along with the magenta colored petals coming from the vines.

The Heartless became confused and started to scatter, but the lone Soldier still remained calm and reached for the heart, only to be slashed down by a curved pink blade. The Heartless squirmed and wiggled as if it was in pain, but if it felt anything to begin with it sure didn't feel anything now. The blade made a clean cut right through the chest, cutting it right in half, and the heartless vanished as quickly as its brethren.

The man in the black cloak with the hood up, surrounded by petals of glowing red roses dancing in the air around him, the scythe reminiscence of the grim reaper or the angel of death standing among the Heartless, who were unaffected by the loss of their leader. They still wanted the heart of the girl, and if it meant losing a dozen of their number to get just one heart they'd do it without a second thought. "The Heartless are so simple minded, it's pathetic," said the man, as the wind blew and his hood fell off his head, revealing long locks of pink hair. Marluxia brandished his scythe with care and raised it above his head. More and more petals came around him, and now the Nobody was ready to defend the heart he himself was trying to protect.

But now he noticed another problem. Where the Soldier once stood, a large pink heart was now floating where the heart was. Now there were two hearts ripe for the taking in the middle of a crowd of Heartless.

And Marluxia was the only one standing between them and the hearts they so desired.

It was like water in a desert, to get them first was enticing, but the Heartless were not backing down, and Marluxia wasn't moving an inch.

So, Marluxia did all that he could do. He fought the Heartless to protect the hearts. They swarmed him, but they were being sliced down by the vines that came out of the ground, and any of the Shadows that did somehow make it past them met the scythe's blade.

Yet still, even though they were being slaughtered they still went for the hearts, but the man with the scythe was not going to allow it.

However, their numbers were dwindling, and Marluxia still had not moved. The Shadows stopped attacking and more than likely seeing the futility of their mission, they dissolved into the ground, disappearing under the roses and not appearing again. The wind kept blowing and the rose petals kept dancing in the gale. Marluxia smiled and turned around to see the hearts floating over the girl. Her skin pale white like a ghost, if he had a heart a bit of remorse would have run through his mind. However, he couldn't feel in an emotional sense.

He reached for the heart that the soldier dropped, and it took off for the sky. Marluxia smiled, "Yes, head for my world…" The World That Never Was was where the heart would eventually go, and it would be used for a grander purpose. All the hearts the Organization could gather would be used for that purpose.

However, as Marluxia reached for the other heart instead of going up towards the sky the heart sank down to the fallen girl, a light came from the contact of heart and skin and the heart vanished back into its original holder. The girl's skin, which was once snow white, was now starting to go to a more lively rose color in the cheeks and her eyes started to blink.

Marluxia saw her eyes looking up at him, and he smirked as he turned around. His scythe vanished in a plume of rose petals.

She sat up, putting a hand to her forehead, "My head…I remember getting flowers and then…seeing those things…what happened to me?"

Marluxia didn't know if she was talking to him or not, it didn't matter, he needed to go, but not without leaving his mark. Without saying a word, a red rose appeared in his right hand. The girl looked at him with a confused look as she was handed the rose he held. The girl took the rose and Marluxia nodded once, and she nodded in reply, her eyes full of wonder and confusion..

Marluxia smiled, knowing that he being there was enough to make her wonder, but that's all he wanted. He got one heart from a heartless, and he 'let one get away'. _This will be tough to explain to the Superior,_ Marluxia thought, wondering how everything will turn out now. The Nobody put his hood up and with a wave of his hand, disappeared in a cloud of rose petals.


End file.
